By Tex DeVille
So, this past Monday was the showcase of Chip Kelly’s new,
amazing, super-duper, unstoppable, so-fast-The-Flash-can’t-keep-up offense.
Now, no doubt the offense was effective… for one half. Everyone has been
clamoring about how the Eagles played 53 plays in the first half. That first
half was amazing: 53 plays, 311 yards, and 26 points in a half is impressive.
What’s more is that they probably should have scored at least 29 points, if not
33. However, no one seems to be talking about the 2nd half: 21 plays
(plus the last 2 kneeldowns), 89 yards, and 7 points.
Sure, of course, the
Redskins came together and started driving and stopped turning the ball over,
and that’s going to decrease the play count, but the Redskins got the Eagles’
number in the 2nd half. That does not excuse an average of
17.8 yards per possession in comparison to the 38.875 yards per possession. If
this new and amazingly unstoppable offense is for real, it needs to finish the
game at least near as strong as it began. Totaling less than half of your
production does not count as “unstoppable.”
Week 1 was disappointing for the entirety of the NFC East. My
Cowboys won by a mere 5 despite getting 6 turnovers, and Eli still looks like a
whiny baby anytime he doesn’t get his way. Seriously, did you see his look
after that last interception? I couldn’t stop laughing. He’s all like “Aw…
derp, derp, derp.” Good times… but I digress. How disappointing is it to be a
Giants’ fan? 6 turnovers. SIX!!!! Eli threw 3 picks, and David Wilson didn’t
know how to hold on to the ball. That 6th turnover was a little
freak occurrence, so I can let that one slide, but did the Giants know that
this was a real game?
Then there’s my Cowboys. Now, first and foremost, I give
kudos to Tony Romo for toughing out that game with bruised ribs, but the O-line
is ridiculous. How many times is Romo going to go down before Jerry realizes
that even the best quarterback in the world cannot win if he’s getting injured every
game. This is not Romo’s fault, nor is it a question of toughness; this is a
fact that he is human, and he needs some capable humans to block for him so he
doesn’t get killed. He also needs competent receivers. That one pick he threw
was due to the wrong route being run, not Romo’s decision making. Terence
Williams was very disappointing, dropping balls left and right. The O-line
gave no room for DeMarco Murray to run, and where in the world was Dez Bryant?
Talk about a non-factor.
My final thought on this NFC East Week 1 boils down to this:
the losers of these matchups should be more comfortable than the winners. The
Eagles, as I’ve mentioned, did nothing for a half. They benefited from an
admittedly stellar 1st half, but they will have to play all 4
quarters against better opponents. The Cowboys need to shore up that line if
they plan on doing anything this year (I have my doubt on that documented). If
they don’t, we may be seeing a Kyle Orton-led Cowboys team. Considering what
pre-season looked like, Jerry better have Tebow on speed-dial so he can call up
a miracle.
Now, look at the losers. The Giants only lost by 5 despite turning
the ball over 6 times. Imagine if any single turnover didn’t happen - the outcome could have been much different. Finally,
the Redskins nearly overcame that large lead the Eagles put up that first half,
only losing by 6 when it was all said and done. RG3 will get better as the
season progresses, and Eli is always infuriatingly successful. The Eagles had better
get some better conditioning if they plan on being the dark horse this year.
The Cowboys had better protect their assets.
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